{"id":13550,"date":"2024-05-26T17:30:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T17:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/?p=13550"},"modified":"2024-05-26T18:24:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T18:24:13","slug":"monaco-gp-charles-leclerc-takes-emotional-home-win-by-seven-seconds-after-a-first-lap-shunt-leads-to-more-friction-at-alpine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/monaco-gp-charles-leclerc-takes-emotional-home-win-by-seven-seconds-after-a-first-lap-shunt-leads-to-more-friction-at-alpine\/","title":{"rendered":"MONACO GP \u2013 Charles Leclerc takes emotional home win by seven seconds, after a first lap shunt leads to more friction at Alpine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Leclerc has won the Monaco Grand Prix following years of heartbreak at his home Grand Prix beating Oscar Piastri by seven seconds. The Ferrari driver drove a lights to flag victory following the first lap crash between the two Alpine\u2019s which saw the race red-flagged almost immediately.<\/p>\n

Leclerc who started on pole was able to switch under the red flag and maintain the lead on the hard tyre and keep Piastri behind him for the remainder of the race. Monaco is always a race with little or no overtaking, the red flag effetely saw the top ten finish as they started as the majority switched under the red flag to the hard tyre.<\/p>\n

The key moment in the race came almost straight away, the top three getting away cleanly, but behind the Red Bull of Sergio Perez spun running up the hill through Beau Rivage hitting the barrier which sent him into Nico Hulkenberg and then was hit by teammate Kevin Magnussen that spread debris leading to the red flag.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t only an opening lap incident as both Alpines came together at Portier, with Esteban Ocon deemed to be to blame and he will have a five-place grid penalty for Montreal. His teammate Pierre Gasly did manage to continue to finish tenth<\/p>\n

Magnussen said, \u201cI had a good part of my front on Perez’s rear and when he went to the wall I got pushed to the wall and made contact with him. I trusted he was going to leave space for me since I was there. It’s not a corner where you’re braking into it, it’s a bend on the straight so you have to have a car otherwise you leave the other guy no option.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the restart, after the effective free stop, the race settled down with strategy not playing much of a role as overtaking is difficult and despite Pirelli going for the softest tyres this is a race where tyre life is not a factor. Piastri drove a solid race but wasn\u2019t able to close the gap and find a place to overtake Leclerc, but successfully fended off Carlos Sainz.<\/p>\n

But Piastri did try early on to pressure Leclerc but was unable to keep it on for the majority of the race after fending off Sainz, who was able to fend off Norris in the closing stages and secure his fourth podium of the year. He would have another attempt but without success in the closing stages.<\/p>\n

Sainz and Piastri were lucky as the first corner collision at the start, which saw the Spaniard drop to last had no impact come the second start, with the red flag, deemed a racing incident neither saw their races changed. Piastri had tried to pressure Leclerc up until the closing stages but the Monacan then opened the winning margin.<\/p>\n

As such, a tactical game emerged between the Ferraris and McLarens as they tried to deny and create a pitstop window respectively; Leclerc was tasked with slowing the pace down to limit the possibility that Lando Norris could clear George Russell sufficiently to bank a free pitstop.<\/p>\n

The Ferrari driver drove a cool and controlled race as he pulled away on the restart and was rewarded not only with a home win, but one the most prestigious races in global motorsport. Making his tyres last fifteen more laps than Pirelli had predicted they would last, but Leclerc and his pursuers were more than capable of making them last by virtue of careful driving and controlling their pace.<\/p>\n

It also gave further evidence that Ferrari are solving the issues which have cost them race wins in the last decade. While Sainz withstood the pressure from Norris to take his fourth podium in his seven starts this year.<\/p>\n

Leclerc said, \u201cNo words can explain that. It’s such a difficult race, I think the fact twice I’ve been starting on pole position and we couldn’t quite make it makes it even better in a way. It means a lot, obviously. It’s the race which made me dream of becoming a Formula One driver one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri added, \u201cTricky race. The pace at the beginning was incredibly slow. I had one little half-look before the tunnel but didn’t have a small enough car to fit into the gap! Thanks to the team. It’s been a great weekend all round. Nice to put a result on the board. I’ve been strong the last few weekends but didn’t have the result to show for it. Nice to have a podium\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from the Alpine incident, there was no further yellow flags or safety cars which would have created opportunities for pit stops. The red flag saw Ferraris and McLarens switched from mediums to hards, while Russell, Verstappen and Hamilton went from hards to mediums.<\/p>\n

The race was unchanged from the restart, George Russell finishing fifth half a second ahead of Max Verstappen as he split the Mercedes a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The trio finished as they started the race, but more importantly growing pressure on Verstappen whose period of dominance has ended he has not won two of the last three races.<\/p>\n

Russell managed to hold off Verstappen, who had fresher tyres for twenty-five laps to take fifth. Hamilton and Verstappen both got free stops and neither could get an advantage and finished as the last cars on the lead lap of the race, Hamilton just over a second behind the Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s sixth place combined with Leclerc\u2019s win cut the Dutchman\u2019s championship lead to thirty-one points after seven rounds. But the question is at a third of the way through the season blown open the championship?<\/p>\n

If Ferrari and McLaren start winning more regularly and as the development battle continues will his dream of a fourth title start to slip away as the season progresses. What looked to be an easy run after the dominance in Shanghai has seen him only win one of the last three races, and yet more demanding and variable circuits coming up over the next two months before the halfway point in the season.<\/p>\n

Verstappen could in theory lose the championship lead in two races as Leclerc is thirty-one points behind the Dutchman. Speaking about his race where Russell covered him off by not pitting, he said \u201cWe just finished where we started. The strategy got ruined in the red flag. From Lap One on the restart it was driving four seconds off the pace and chill. No work out whatsoever. Just really, really boring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yuki Tsunoda was eighth finishing ahead of Alex Albon by fourteen seconds, but both a lap down. While Gasly recovered from his teammate’s lunge at Portier to take the final point but was six seconds behind Albon. Fernando Alonso was eleventh ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and teammate Lance Stroll.<\/p>\n

The Canadian making the one of few pit stop during racing conditions because of a puncher on lap forty-two. Logan Sargeant was fifteenth ahead of Guanyu Zhou, as they completed the finishers.<\/p>\n

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